The marketplace dominance and ubiquity of standards-based products make them attractive targets for patent litigation, especially to non-practicing entities (NPEs), otherwise commonly known as “patent trolls.”

According to Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel at Microsoft Corporation, Innovation and Intellectual Property Group, this complexity helps explain the rise in litigation in the patent space.

Doing thorough due diligence, being consistent in negotiating principles, and treating similarly placed parties in similar ways are all sound means of minimizing the risk that a licensor’s offer will be found to be inconsistent with that party’s FRAND obligations.